Proposed California Law Would Ban Food Trucks Near Schools

If approved, a law introduced in the state Legislature last week would ban food trucks from parking within 1,500 feet of schools between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. The law is aimed at keeping food trucks from competing with school lunch programs.

A 2007 San Francisco regulation already prohibits trucks from parking near middle schools and high schools in the city, but the state law also includes elementary schools. Such a move would be devastating to the food truck scene, because it would make San Francisco off-limits during the day, said Supervisor Scott Wiener.

“We’re having a map drawn now,” Wiener told SF Weekly, “but it looks like [expanding the limit to] 1500-hundred feet from all schools would knock out the bulk of the city from having access to food trucks.”

Last month Wiener told Mission Loc@l that he was looking to amend a section of the San Francisco Planning Code that bans food trucks from parking within 1,500 feet of a school — the equivalent of three to four city blocks — while school is in session.

The city regulation doesn’t make sense because it assumes that all food trucks sell junk food, Wiener said. He is proposing to reduce the distance to 500 feet, or about one city block.

“In terms of wanting to have better food, wanting to have social equity, I think it went too far,” Wiener told Mission Loc@l. “Food trucks have come a long way. To assume that all food trucks are junk food is inaccurate.”

Opponents of the regulations say that the law puts much of the Mission District off-limits.

“The way the law is constructed, there is an emphasis on applying to downtown because there is so much territory that is closed,” Wiener said.